The State of the Ministry

by Mark Levitt

MARK LEVITT

For almost twenty years, my father, Zola, has been instrumental in
awakening anesthetized Christians, jolting them from their stupor,
galvanizing them with the magnificence of their Jewish roots, and
mobilizing them for spiritual warfare.

Jesus is the Messiah for all of us. The Old Testament says it; the
New Testament proves it. Please do us a favor: if any of your friends
have an amputated Bible of the New Testament (one with no Old
Testament), ask them to send it to us so that we can replace it for free
with a whole Bible. If they refuse, then please order our
eight-audiocassette series, Discovering Our Jewish Roots for them.

God's richest blessings must go to the ministries who teach over and
over that you've got to be saved. But once people are saved, going to
church, and living the Christian life, many of these truly hunger to
experience God and need help getting there. That's where we come in.
Since this ministry is not the only one providing this help, we praise
God for the privilege of publicizing some of our allies.

Satan has used anti-Semitism to further his own propaganda agenda.
This indoctrination has worked. Ask yourself why so few churches teach
about Israel, and so few faith-professing Christians trouble to visit
Israel. After all, if we're reading the Bible correctly, all of us are
going to live in Israel for a thousand years, and that could start seven
years from today.

To cite one example, a lady telephoned Zola's live radio talk show,
which he used to host here in Dallas, to say, "I just don't think that I
can respect Jesus anymore, knowing that He's Jewish, even though He's my
Savior."

What's the state of this ministry? Well, with people like that poor
caller needing us so badly, we've got to be doing fine. People like
her, on Judgement Day, are going to sit before the King of the Jews.
Those hobbled souls need this ministry more than they do the clothes on
their back.

There's only one problem. They don't know it, and this is where you
come in. Many of you reading this may be unable to "vote" for this
ministry with your dollars. But if you can encourage two friends to
watch our television program, Zola Levitt Presents, and read our
newsletters, and later ask them to reach two friends, you could be
helping us more than a rich man sending us his entire tithe.

This outreach is only about reaching people. With your help we've
put quality programming on reasonably good air times, but we're
embarking on new challenges and facing a looming question. Our newest
challenge: a brand-new, ten-program, state-of-the-art television series
entitled the Covenants of God, shot on location in Israel with
top quality production to capture the attention of TV channel surfers
jaded by multi-million-dollar Hollywood productions. The looming
question: how much longer will we be on the FAM (CBN) network, now that
FOX has bought it and plans to move toward programming similar to
Nickelodeon's?

Our two secret weapons for getting and keeping good air times are
sending superior programs and paying our bills on time. We've had the
same TV producer since the beginning: Ken Berg. There is no question
that God helps him uphold his end of the bargain. Divine inspiration is
the only way I can account for how good our programs look considering
how little Ken charges. Thanks be to God, our little ministry has twice
won the coveted Telly award in what amounts to a David-versus-Goliath
competition.

When the Rapture comes, you and our staff will be gone, but what will
be left behind? Probably five hundred incisive half-hour television
programs (most of them having aired at least twice), as well as a broad
range of Bible teaching materials; pages 11 and 12 of this newsletter
list only a portion of what fills our 1,500-square-foot shipping
department. With our processing 3,000 to 5,000 orders per month for our
materials, can you imagine how many unbelievers will be blessed to find
them once we Christians are gone?

Back to the present, we're mailing two free newsletters per month,
hosting three Israel tours per year, and answering Bible questions via
mail, fax and email. Our Institute of Jewish-Christian Studies
correspondence course has new graduates every month. Zola continues to
speak in churches and seminaries. Our Internet web site, www.levitt.com,
is growing by leaps and bounds, and we've added to it a
slide show of ,Israel,
plus we're working on a
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions page)
and considering adding a forum for Messianic chat.

If this ministry were a car, our tachometer would be redlining.
Fortunately we'd be getting awesome mileage because our motor
(administration) is small. Our audited financial statements are free
for the asking, and they show that seventy percent of our gross revenue
goes straight to American living rooms via television. Fourteen percent
covers our staff, and the rest goes mainly to newsletters, teaching
materials, postage and rent.

In terms of Christian investment, there is no better buy than
evangelism. And if you're counting souls reached per dollar, the
biggest bang for the buck is television. Please pray about the
importance of this ministry's work and bear in mind our incredible
economies of scale. If you could sit in my chair for a day, you would
move us up on your giving list, believe me.

You may recall that we produced two major on-location series this
year, The Stones Cry Out and companion book and Champions of
Faith. We have a brand new music cassette, Champions of
Faith, and Zola contributed the chapter "Israel — Island in the
Violent Islamic Sea" to the book End-Time Thunder.

We may need your help now more than ever. We should diversify into
new air times so that we're not too dependent on whether we're allowed
to remain on the FAM network. As you may know, sooner is better when
cultivating new television audiences, and if we successfully expand into
new areas, plus remain on FAM, everyone will benefit. Whether it's
survival or growth we're talking about, I know this ministry can count
on you, and I find it impossible to express my gratitude. Let me just
say, "Thanks, and see you in the Kingdom."

Palestine vs. Israel as the Name of the Holy Land

by Thomas S. McCall, Th.D.

During the last few centuries, the world, Christians included, has
fallen into a bad habit. We have bought into some early Roman
propaganda. We have used the name Palestine, which Roman Emperor
Hadrian placed on the country of Israel in 135 A.D., for so long that it
has become common usage. This would be as incorrect as calling the
Russia of today the "Soviet Union" or referring to Berlin as "East
Germany." The thoughts below by our ministry's senior theologian, Dr.
Thomas S. McCall, completely explore the subject. If you know somebody
who's fallen into this habit, please share this article with them.

Current Propaganda's Use of Palestine

Thomas S. McCall, Th.D

There is a propaganda
war going on now with regard to the term "Palestine." At one time it
might have been argued that Palestine was an innocuous designation of
the Middle Eastern area, that is generally thought of as the Holy Land.
During the last few decades, however, the term Palestine has been
adopted by Arabs living in Israel in the area west of the Jordan River.
It is specifically employed to avoid the use of the name Israel, and
must be considered an anti-Israel term. In all Arab maps published in
Jordan, Egypt, etc., the area west of the Jordan River is called
Palestine, without any reference to Israel. Palestine is the term now
used by those who want to deny the legitimate existence of Israel as a
genuine nation among the family of nations.

The term now adopted by the political entity within Israel that is
gradually obtaining more and more pockets of territory through the
"peace process," is "the PA (Palestinian Authority). Although it must
deal daily with Israeli officials, the PA hates to use the term Israel
in any of its communications.

Palestine, therefore, must now be considered a political propaganda
term with massive anti-Israel implications. The world press uses the
term to question the legitimacy of modern Israel. Christians also have
used the term Palestine for centuries in referring to the Holy Land. In
earlier times this might have been excused (although biblically
questionable) because of its common usage. In light of the current
propaganda war against Israel, however, Christians must now re-evaluate
the term Palestine and consider whether it is biblically, theologically
or prophetically accurate.

Biblical Use of Palestine

The term Palestine is rarely used
in the Old Testament, and when it is, it refers specifically to the
southwestern coastal area of Israel occupied by the Philistines. It is
a translation of the Hebrew word "Pelesheth." The term is never used to
refer to the whole land occupied by Israel. Before Israel occupied the
land, it would be generally accurate to say that the southwestern
coastal area was called Philistia (the Way of the Philistines, or
Palestine), while the central highlands were called Canaan. Both the
Canaanites and the Philistines had disappeared as distinct peoples at
least by the time of the Babylonian Captivity of Judea (586 B.C.), and
they no longer exist.

In the New Testament, the term Palestine is never used. The term
Israel is primarily used to refer to the people of Israel, rather than
the Land. However, in at least two passages, Israel is used to refer to
the Land:

Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother,
and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead who
sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took
the young child and his mother, and came into
the land of Israel. (Matt. 2:20-21)

But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye
into another: for verily I say to you, Ye shall not
have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of
man shall have come. (Matt. 10:23)

The first passage is when Joseph, Mary and Jesus returned from Egypt
to Israel, and the second has reference to the proclamation of the
Gospel throughout the Land of Israel. Jesus, Matthew and the angel
speaking to Joseph use the term Israel with reference to the Land, even
though the term was not then recognized by the Roman authorities.

It is clear, then, that the Bible never uses the term Palestine to
refer to the Holy Land as a whole, and that Bible maps that refer to
Palestine in the Old or New Testament are, at best, inaccurate, and, at
worst, are a conscious denial of the biblical name of Israel.

History of the Term Palestine

Where did the term Palestine
originate from? How did the world and the church get into the habit of
calling the land of Israel "Palestine"? One of the guides we use in our
tours to Israel is Zvi Rivai, an Israeli Messianic believer, who has
done considerable research on this subject. Zvi informs us that before
135 A.D., the Romans used the terms Judea and Galilee to refer to the
Land of Israel. When Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the Roman
government struck a coin with the phrase "Judea Capta," meaning Judea
has been captured. The term Palestine was never used in the early Roman
designations.

It was not until the Romans crushed the second Jewish revolt against
Rome in 135 A.D. under Bar Kochba that Emperor Hadrian applied the term
Palestine to the Land of Israel. Hadrian, like many dictators since his
time realized the propaganda power of terms and symbols. He replaced
the shrines of the Jewish Temple and the Sepulchre of Christ in
Jerusalem with temples to pagan deities. He changed the name of
Jerusalem to Aelia Capitalina, and changed the name of Israel and Judea
to Palestine. Hadrian's selection of Palestine was purposeful, not
accidental. He took the name of the ancient enemies of Israel, the
Philistines, Latinized it to Palestine, and applied it to the Land of
Israel. He hoped to erase the name Israel from all memory. Thus, the
term Palestine as applied to the Land of Israel was invented by the
inveterate enemy of the Bible and the Jewish people, Emperor Hadrian.

It is interesting to note that the original Philistines were not
Middle Eastern at all. They were European peoples from the Adriatic sea
next to Greece. It may have pleased Hadrian to utilize this Hellenistic
term for the Jewish land. In any case, the original "Palestinians" had
nothing to do, whatsoever, with any Arabs.

Christian Adoption of the Term Palestine

One of the first
Christian uses of the term Palestine is found in the works of the Church
historian Eusebius, who lived in Caesarea. He wrote around 300 A.D., as
the Roman persecution of Christians was ending and the Emperor
Constantine began to accept Christianity as legal. Eusebius did not
accept Hadrian's designation of Jerusalem as Aelia Capitalina, but he
did use Hadrian's term Palestine. Eusebius considered himself to be one
of the bishops of Palestine. Thus, the anti-Israel, anti-Christian name
of Palestine was assimilated into the Church's vocabulary as the
Byzantine Empire was being established.

The Church has, since that time, broadly used the term Palestine in
literature and in maps to refer to the Land of Israel. It should be
noted, however, that the Crusaders called their land the Kingdom of
Jerusalem. When the British received the mandate after World War I,
though, they called the land on both sides of the Jordan River,
Palestine. This became the accepted geo-political term for several
decades, and those who lived in the land were called Palestinians,
whether they were Jews, Arabs or Europeans.

Even evangelical Christians who believe in the future of Israel have
used the term Palestine. The New Scofield Reference Edition of the
Bible has maps in the back entitled "Palestine under the Herods." There
never was a Palestine under the Herods. This is a serious
misidentification. It would be something like looking at a modern map
of Texas and having it titled "Mexico in the Twentieth Century."

The MacArthur Study Bible published just last year contains a map
called "Palestine in Christ's Time" There are numerous references in the
notes to something called first-century Palestine.

It appears that Bible-believing Christians have either knowingly or
unwittingly followed the world, pagans and haters of Israel in calling
Israel by the anti-Israel term Palestine. It is found throughout Bible
maps, Bible commentaries and textbooks.

Proper Designation of the Land

The use of the term
Palestine was biblically inaccurate and wrong throughout the Church age.
However, it is more than just wrong, it is devastating in our time,
when the term Palestine is the cornerstone of the propaganda war against
Israel and the Jewish people. Do we want to use terms invented by those
who hate Christ, the Bible and Israel? Do we want to utilize terms used
by the enemies of Israel who desire to accomplish nothing less than the
destruction of the Jewish people? I think not.

Christians should use the terminology of the Bible wherever possible.
Why not go back to the terms used in the New Testament? The Gospel
writers used the term Israel to refer to the Land. Why should we use
any other term when referring to the Land, especially now that the Jews
are back in the Land and have re-established the nation of Israel among
the family of nations?

As we draw closer to the Second Coming of Christ, we should
understand that Satan's fury against the Church and Israel will grow
exponentially. Satan hates the Gospel of the crucified and risen
Messiah, and he hates the reality of the restoration of Israel as the
nation that will ultimately receive Jesus as the Messiah at His return,
and the nation that will be Christ's earthly headquarters. The only
term we should use for the Land is Israel, or its subdivisions of Judea,
Samaria, and Galilee. We should make every effort to remove the term
Palestine from our Bible maps and textbooks, and use only biblical terms
with reference to the Holy Land of Israel.